Taliban leaders in Afghanistan are complicating efforts to end polio worldwide, Bill Gates told Reuters via phone March 25.
Three things to know:
1. In 2018, 33 polio cases occurred worldwide, according to data from the Global Polio Eradication Initiative cited by Reuters. Another six cases occurred in 2019. Of these 39 cases, 16 were in Pakistan and 23 were in Afghanistan.
"We've got to get Afghanistan and Pakistan to zero," Mr. Gates told Reuters. "We need government donors to stay committed."
2. Mr. Gates said Pakistan is making progress to address polio but noted that Taliban leaders are hindering vaccination efforts in Afghanistan. The leaders do not have a strict policy on polio vaccines but sometimes stop vaccination campaigns from occurring in the country.
"That's what we don't have predictability or control over," Mr. Gates said.
3. Since the World Health Assembly launched the GPEI in 1988, global polio cases have fallen 99.9 percent. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joined GPEI as a major supporter in 2007, donating nearly $3 billion to polio eradication efforts.